This invention relates generally to the field of collapsible reusable shipping containers of the type disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,737 granted Apr. 13, 1969, and more particularly to an improved form thereof.
Such shipping containers are principally used for air and truck transport, where space and weight considerations normally are of greater importance than the cost of fabrication, particularly where the container may be used as many as one half dozen times before it becomes so worn that it must be discarded. However, in recent years, the cost of manufacture has increased substantially, and is currently a factor of more than nominal importance.
While conventional wood pallets or the plastic equivalent thereof have been considered an essential part of the container, which is otherwise formed of multiply corrugated fiberboard, such pallets are relatively heavy, and occupy a height of from four to six inches which might otherwise be occupied by actual cargo. In conventional construction, the side walls of the container are fastened to the upper or side surfaces of the pallet, and rely upon the pallet for structural rigidity. It has not been appreciated that the same side walls possess considerable, heretofore unutilized, strength in both tension and compression in the plane of the side walls.